While hiking the Asticou & Jordon Pond Path at Acadia National Park, my husband and I encountered an unusual tree.
This white pine used to grow on top of something that disappeared, perhaps a decaying log. The main stem looks solid but I’m sure the tree needs the “h” for support.
Do you know the name of this root formation?
p.s. I ask because I don’t know what to call it. A “knee” is a root that emerges from the ground near the trunk but is not attached to it — as in cypress knees. This root is different from a cypress knee.
(photo by Kate St. John)
I don’t know what its name is, but I suspect it began its life on a “nurse log”, and its roots grew around the downed tree. We saw a lot of this kind of thing in the great forest of the northwest.
Thank you, Nannie. I’d forgotten the term “nurse log.” This may be the clue I needed.
“Buttress” would be appropriate. You diagnosed it correctly.